150 affordable homes at Pelican Court to be handed over Thursday

The governments of Antigua and Barbuda and China will hold a handover ceremony for 150 affordable housing units at Pelican Court on Thursday, Oct. 15, marking a milestone in the Booby Alley redevelopment.

The ceremony is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at the development on Lower North Street in St. John’s, according to an official invitation issued by the two governments.

The handover comes as Prime Minister Gaston Browne outlined how replacement housing arrangements would differ for people who owned and lived in their former homes, landlords who rented properties to others, and tenants.

Speaking on Saturday’s Browne and Browne Show, Browne said Cabinet had discussed the arrangements and that residents who owned and occupied their homes would receive replacements regardless of their former properties’ value.

“No matter the value of the homes, they’re going to get a replacement home,” he said.

Browne said some residents had lived in chattel houses worth approximately $20,000 to $30,000 but would receive units valued at approximately $150,000 to $200,000.

He distinguished those residents from landlords whose properties were used to generate rental income. He said owning a low-value rental property would not automatically entitle someone to a substantially more valuable new unit without an additional payment.

“We don’t think we can justify you have a $20,000 chattel property that somebody may be paying you $200 a month rent, that we could justify giving those people a unit because that was a commercial arrangement,” he said.

For those rental properties, Browne outlined a requirement that the former property be valued at least half the cost of the replacement unit, with the owner paying the difference.

He gave the example of a landlord whose property was worth $75,000 receiving a unit valued at $150,000 and paying the remaining $75,000.

Browne also indicated that some higher-value rental properties could qualify for a replacement without that additional payment, although he did not spell out a precise threshold during the discussion.

“So we’re trying to create a balance here. We’re not trying to disenfranchise anyone,” he said.

For former tenants, Browne said rental arrangements would continue unless they pursued a route to ownership.

“Those who are renting, they will have to continue to pay rent because they never owned the property,” he said. “We’ll set the rent within their means, so we’re not going to disenfranchise them.”

When a panel member raised rent-to-own arrangements, Browne said the government’s preference was to offer mortgages.

“Our preference is to go for mortgages. So for the most part, we’ll be doing mortgages,” he said. “So if you were renting before and you now want to get a mortgage, we’ll do a mortgage.”

He did not announce rental rates, mortgage interest rates, repayment periods or detailed eligibility requirements during the programme.

Browne also discussed residents in nearby homes who wished to remain where they were, saying a straight swap could be arranged.

Responding to interest from people in the diaspora, he said they could be accommodated if units remained available.

“If we end up with any available ones, we can accommodate them,” he said.

Browne confirmed that the Chinese would hand over the development Thursday but said landscaping work remained. He also said the government intended to gate the compound after observing people using it as a shortcut.

Neither the invitation nor his remarks specified when residents would begin moving into the units.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: China to handover Pelican Court on Thursday.